COMMUNITY CASE STUDY article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1582710
This article is part of the Research TopicCommunity Engagement: Models and EffectivenessView all 9 articles
Supermarket Health Advocacy, Resources, and Education (SHARE): feasibility of a supermarket-based prediabetes and diabetes screening and education program
Provisionally accepted
- 1University at Buffalo, Buffalo, United States
- 2Northeast Shared Services, Tops Markets, Buffalo, NY, United States
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Introduction: This project aimed to determine the feasibility of engaging supermarket patrons in diabetes screening, healthy food promotion and education to bridge geographic, economic, and knowledge gaps in diabetes prevention and management. Methods: Trained staff tabled at supermarket entrances advertising screening for pre-diabetes and diabetes. Customers without a diabetes diagnosis completed a National Diabetes Prevention Program Prediabetes Risk Test (score >5 = prediabetes risk). Those with a previous diabetes diagnosis completed a brief questionnaire on their diabetes knowledge/management, healthcare access, and social determinants of health. Surveys took about 5 minutes to complete. Participants received a $5 voucher for fruit and vegetables, evidence based educational material and a list of healthcare resources in the community. The results of the survey informed the design and implementation of 5 educational sessions using an adult learning, popular education approach. A $10 grocery voucher was given for attendance at each session. Results: 303 customers of four grocery stores in urban Buffalo took the survey between January and June 2024. 67% of those screened were either at-risk for or were already diagnosed with diabetes. 227 people completed the Prediabetes Risk Test: 58% had a score >5 (indicating they were at risk for pre-diabetes), 51% reported having hypertension, and 75% reported a BMI categorized as overweight or obese. 76 participants (25%) stated they had been diagnosed with diabetes. Of these, 91% saw a doctor every 3 months, but 28% did not know the importance of HbA1c, 18% had trouble paying for medications, and 15% had inadequate transportation. 55 people (34 unique) participated in 5 education sessions. Participants shared questions, concerns and strategies to overcome barriers to diabetes prevention and control. Discussion: This project demonstrates that it is feasible to screen for common health conditions in the supermarket setting and that combining screening with immediately accessible healthy food and educational resources can address multiple, intersecting barriers to diabetes prevention and management.
Keywords: Diabetes Prevention, diabetes management, supermarket intervention, Communitybased, popular education
Received: 24 Feb 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cadzow, Strohmeier, Keller, Regling, Brooks and Quattrin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Renee Cadzow, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, United States
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